1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to conversion of optical signals and, more particularly, to conversion of optical signals to demodulated baseband electrical information signals and to modulated electrical signals, such as RF signals, using universal frequency translation technology.
2. Related Art
Conventional methods and systems for converting optical signals to electrical suffer from the disadvantage of being relatively expensive in terms of cost and power consumption. Conventional optical signal conversion circuitry is complex and has a large number of circuit parts. This complexity and high parts count increases overall cost. Additionally, higher part counts result in higher power consumption, which is undesirable, particularly in battery powered repeater units.
What is needed is are improved methods and systems for converting optical information signals to electrical signals.